At Okie's request I've started a new thread on this topic hoping we can put our heads together on the popular subject.
I replied to Dave in this earlier "Snack Stick" thread;
Dave...
I use Cabela's 11# vertical stuffer and love it.
I have used collagen pepperette casing but prefer the finished texture of sheep casing.
The natural casing is very finicky to work with and you will waste a pile until you get the hang of it.
Were you using the collagen casing dry ? (you're not supposed to soak it).
I don't think I ever burst a collagen pepperette casing using the Cabela's stuffer.
If you make (or want to make) sausages I highly recommend Rytek Kutas' fantastic text, "Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing". You can buy it from his company, (Sausage Maker), or on Amazon.
Most importantly it explains properly how to use cure, (sodium nitrite).
If you're smoking sausage you had better understand the process clearly before you make yourself pretty sick.
I have used the pepperette recipe in the book with success but recently switched to a commercial formulation from Malabar Super Spice in Burlington, Ontario.
Their 2kg pouch, (enough to do several hundred pounds), sells for around Cdn$30 and tastes as good as any commercial pepperette.
It also contains sodium erythorbate to maintain the nice red color of the finished product.
This was the original recipe I used (per 10#s meat);
2 tsp. Instacure #1
6 Tb. non-idodized salt
1 Tb hot cayenne, (I find 2gm/kg gives a nice zing)
1 tsp. ground allspice
5 tsp. ground anise seed
You can substitute the cure and salt with Morton�s Tender Quick, available in any Super Wallyworld.
Use their directions for amounts.
Your stuffing problems are likely related to your meat mixture being too stiff, (ie. not enough liquid).
It's pretty tough trying to get a stiff mixture through a small tube !
In order to avoid a stiff mixture you should only mix in the spices, (esp. the salt), just before you stuff.
Also, I add at least 10% by weight of liquid, (usually water but you can use a [cooled] broth made from scraps/bones if you have the time).
I don't smoke my sausage in my Smokette - God knows I've tried.
Sausage smoking in a Smokette is a whole other story, (I can get into it if you wish).
I now get all my sausages and salami smoked commercially.
Hope this helps....
John
Then in response to GeiyserQ's comment about smoking sausage in a Smokette I spewed;
Don't get me wrong, I'm not bad-mouthing the Smokette's ability to smoke "cooked" sausage.
The Smokette's shortcomings are its inability to cold smoke and its lack of draft.
Due to the costs involved, home cold smokers are unheard of - you pretty well have to build your own.
But cold smoking is needed for dry cured sausages such as pepperoni and salami.
So, I have them done commercially by a local deli that has cold smoking units the size of nuclear reactors.
The draft issue poses a problem in the Smokette.
As you know, the sausage casing must be dry, but not too dry, before smoke is applied in order to achieve even and proper smoke penetration.
You need lots of draft to achieve this.
Yes, you can prop the door open a crack but that doesn't allow even air movement.
You'll get some sausage that are crispy while others are still soggy and you haven't even added the smoke yet!
Also, when smoke is applied to sausages you require a large volume of "soft" smoke and a way to quickly get rid of the moisture that continues to be generated by the sausage - again only achieved through good draft.
If you're making small batches of cooked style sausage and are willing and patient enough to move them around as they dry you can certainly get a decent result in a Smokette.
John
So....Anybody else got some comments, suggestions, ideas, deep thoughts ??????
Sausage making is my favorite hobby so I would enjoy kicking it around !
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